From Plastic Problem to Business Opportunity
Willemijn Peeters is an internationally recognised speaker on circular plastics, sustainability leadership and systems change. She operates at the intersection of business, policy and environmental impact — translating purpose into pragmatic strategies that companies can actually implement.
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Willemijn Peeters is an internationally recognised speaker on circular plastics, sustainability leadership and systems change. With a solid foundation in business administration from Nyenrode University and broad experience at Philips in finance, business management and strategy, Willemijn Peeters discovered early on that sustainability is not only essential, but also directly contributes to profitability.
She knows how to combine sharp financial insight with a passion for sustainability, proving that environmental responsibility and business success go hand in hand. She then spent eleven years working alongside companies to increase both impact and results. Following this, she wholeheartedly committed herself to her mission: helping companies to structurally prevent plastic pollution and embed sustainability within their business models. In doing so, she creates greater value and a distinctive competitive edge together with businesses.
That insight led to the founding of Searious Business, a social enterprise helping leading international brands close the plastic loop in three key impact sectors: packaging, furniture and consumer electronics. By strategically assessing internal plastic use, accelerating circular product and business innovation, and addressing external impacts on ocean ecosystems, Willemijn and her team create economically viable alternatives at the source — before pollution occurs.
If we want a future with a living ocean, we must close the plastic tap. Our systems need to change — and that change begins with business.
Through Searious Business, Willemijn has spent the past ten years supporting numerous brands in accelerating the shift towards a circular plastics economy. Under her leadership, the company has delivered successful improvement projects for companies such as Unilever, Jumbo Supermarkets, Nestlé and Gispen, achieving impressive results in reducing costs, material consumption, waste and CO? emissions. In addition, she has collaborated with the United Nations, governments, NGOs and international organisations to develop policy and implementation initiatives across Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and the Caribbean.
Wherever she works, Willemijn is regarded as a trusted bridge-builder: someone who understands political ambition, commercial realities and environmental urgency — and knows how to connect them.
What sets Willemijn apart as a speaker is her ability to mobilise unlikely coalitions and move conversations from intention to action. She brings deep technical knowledge of circularity, combined with a pragmatic, goal-oriented mindset and a talent for engaging diverse audiences — from CEOs and entrepreneurs to policymakers and civil society leaders. Persistence and guts define her approach, as does her belief that progress requires both ambition and feasibility.
Willemijn has been recognised with numerous awards and roles, including Green Solutions Partner of the European Commission, Leader in the Dutch Sustainable Top 100, Winner of the Plastic Recycling Europe Award, and member of the Dutch Circular Economy Transition Team. She is also the developer and co-developer of several breakthrough circular products and platforms, including a fully recyclable drink pouch, the IUCN Oceans and Plastics Platform, and furniture made from over 95% recycled plastics.
Are you part of an organisation ready to set higher impact targets?
Willemijn Peeters inspires, challenges and equips audiences to act — turning complex sustainability challenges into concrete opportunities for leadership and change.
Plastic pollution is one of the defining challenges of our time — but it is also a catalyst for innovation. This keynote explores practical, scalable strategies for reducing plastic at the source, closing material loops and turning environmental urgency into commercial advantage.
Regulation is changing fast, but compliance alone is not a strategy. Willemijn shares real-world examples of how leading brands redesign packaging for circularity, reduce risk, cut costs and create impact — while staying ahead of European legislation and market expectations.
Based on her involvement in international policy dialogues and UN Plastic Treaty negotiations, Willemijn translates complex global policy developments into clear implications for companies. What’s coming? What will change? And how can organisations prepare now — strategically, not reactively?
High ambition is essential — but implementation is where change succeeds or fails. Willemijn offers unique insights from working simultaneously with governments, NGOs and global brands, showing how policy goals can be translated into feasible, system-wide business solutions.
Purpose is powerful — when it is operationalised. In this keynote, Willemijn shares her journey from the corporate world to founding Searious Business, and what it takes to build enterprises that combine purpose, profitability and real systems impact.
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